Over the past few days, Ye Zichen’s courses had tortured him to the point of imminent collapse. When he heard Xue Mo say she was there to help him escape from the torment, his droopy eyes lit with newfound excitement.
“I’d absolutely love that.” Due to overexcitement, Ye Zichen thumped his leg and stood.
The teacher on stage furrowed his brows. “You, the student over there! Do you have a question?”
“No, no.” Ye Zichen smiled apologetically and sat back down. The teacher paid him no further heed and continued his lecture.
Xue Mo, however, put her head in her hands. “Moron.”
Ye Zichen huddled in his seat for a while without saying anything. When he sensed that the teacher was no longer looking his way, he said careful, “Senior Sister Xue, how do you plan to save me?”
“Wait until this class ends, then come see me at the base.” With that, Xue Mo silently scurried off, her back bent to avoid anyone spotting her.
Ye Zichen endured until the lecturer left the room. In truth, this class was somewhat useful to Ye Zichen, but of course, it wasn’t that useful.
As soon as the teacher was gone, Ye Zichen dashed back to Anti-Upheaval’s base as fast as he possibly could.
Ordinarily, members of any given student society would hang around their base whenever class wasn’t in session. Student societies were like family clans in the outside world, so members were almost like family. Some of them were busy with various tasks around the base, while others were cultivating in seclusion.
Due to Anti-Upheaval’s glorious history and their former status as the top of the three great student societies, they still had enough territory to accommodate a million members.
When Ye Zichen arrived, quite a few other members were there. When they saw him, they nodded at him.
Although Ye Zichen was just a new student, everyone at Skyspan Academy knew about “the Excavator.”
“Senior Apprentice Sister Xue, I’m here,” said Ye Zichen as he reached the lotus pond beside Xue Mo’s residence. When he got there, she was seated with Chen Guangfa and busily discussing something. When they saw Ye Zichen, they stopped their discussion.
Xue Mo passed Chen Guangfa and sent him on an errand, then turned to Ye Zichen and smile faintly. “You got here awfully fast.”
“Of course I did!” said Ye Zichen as he watched Chen Guangfa fade into the distance. “You called me here. How could I not hurry?”
“That’s a good attitude.” Xue Mo nodded in satisfaction.
Ye Zichen had absolutely no desire to continue taking such dull classes. Although he didn’t like seeing Xue Mo look so self-satisfied, for the sake of his own happiness, he had no choice but to butter her up. “It’s just alright. Senior Apprentice Sister, do you mind telling me just what your brilliant plan to help me escape my boredom is?”
“Oh? I seem to recall our Platoon Leader Ye as brazen and arrogant!” Xue Mu pressed her lips into a smile and taunted him.
“Big Sister! I think of you like an older sister! In the past, your little brother was young and ignorant. Please hurry! If you have a plan, please tell me! If you can help me skip class without losing points, you’ll become my goddess!”
“So you’re saying that if I can’t help you, I won’t be your goddess?”
“No no no! You’ve always been my goddess, and always will be!”
Xue Mo chuckled, then quit teasing him. She picked up the jade slip lying beside her and tossed it to him. “Take a look.”
Ye Zichen accepted it and examined it with his divine sense. Inside was what looked like a bounty mission. Essentially, they had to go to a place near Barren Sands City where a lot of people had died recently. None of the city’s surrounding villages had escaped the calamity. However, the people the city tasked with investigating these deaths hadn’t come up with any results, so they’d requested for Skyspan Academy to arrange a team to investigate on their behalf.
After retrieving his divine sense, Ye Zichen fidgeted with the slip, then tossed it back to Xue Mo. “A mission?”
“That’s right.” Xue Mo accepted the slip, then nodded. “The school only just received this request. According to the academy’s evaluation, only the top five student societies are qualified to handle this mission. Coincidentally, it’s been a long time since Upheaval last took on a mission, so I took it upon myself to accept this one.”
“So that’s how it is.” Ye Zichen nodded in understanding. “Taking on missions to get credit and resources is a good idea. If Anti-Upheaval wants to reclaim our former spotlight, we really do need to take on a few high-level missions. But….what does this have to do with me skipping class?!”
“Missions require ten-man teams, and I prepared a spot for you. When we leave, I’ll report to the school, and you’ll be exempt from classes without punishment, explained Xue Mo.
Going on a mission?
Just now, when he read the mission, it said this was a mission for sky supremes. If the academy thought that was the minimum level necessary, and he, a sky supreme went…
“Who else will be going on the mission?”
“Luo Zi and Li Hu are definitely coming, as well as Guangfa and I. I’ve already picked people for the other five spots too. Right now, I’m just waiting on your response.” Xue Mo crossed her arms.
She seemed to sense his hesitation, so she added, “One of the rewards for this mission is ten-thousand-year black jade. A few days ago, didn’t you ask me where to buy it? An opportunity to obtain it is right in front of you… If you go, I can give you first dibs on purchasing it after we complete the mission.”
“I still have to purchase it? You can’t just give it to me?” Ye Zichen arched his brows.
“….” Xue Mo couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “What are you thinking? If we were the only ones on the mission that would be one thing, but there’ll be others too! Giving you first dibs is already pretty good. Well? Are you going or not? Out with it!”
Ten-thousand-year black jade was one of the materials required for the Devil Dharma Body Technique. He needed a full hundred and fifty kilograms.
Even though he’d opened the second floor of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda, he had nowhere near enough. As a result, Ye Zichen had yet to form his dharma body even after all this time.
During his time at the academy, Ye Zichen had asked quite a few people about ten-thousand-year black jade.
It was half a million aureus per kilo, and supply still couldn’t meet the demand!
The academy actually had quite a bit of it, but you could only purchase it with contribution points. Ye Zichen wanted to condense his dharma body as fast as possible, so he had no time to play around with the school’s point system.
However, the Skyspan Trading Company had said nothing about ten-thousand-year black jade in any of their upcoming auctions….
So this mission was most likely the fastest possible way to obtain the black jade he needed.
“Have you made up your mind yet? If you don’t want to go, I can ask someone else.” Xue Mo frowned.
“You’re sure I’ll get dibs on purchasing the ten-thousand-year black jade?”
“I’m sure!” The certainty of her response set Ye Zichen at ease.
He steeled himself, grit his teeth, and said, “Alright, it’s settled. Count me in.”
“Alright, that’s that.” As soon as Ye Zichen agreed, Xue Mo flashed him a radiant smile. “We’re meeting at the base tomorrow morning. We’ll leave as soon as everyone shows up.”
